Allan Appel Photo
DeLauro, U.S. Sen. Chris Murpy, Santilli, and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal at Monday’s announcement.
Forty people joined U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, New Haven Food Policy Council Chair Alycia Santilli, and the state’s two U.S. senators at the Atwater Senior Center Monday morning. The occasion: to mark $2.8 million given to Connecticut (and six other states) so they can participate in the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
That federal program will bring a regular delivery of about $50 worth of peanut butter, juice, cereal, cheese, grains, and canned fruits and vegetables to approximately 2,500 to 3,000 families in the state. It will go on a monthly basis either to senior centers for distribution or directly to seniors at their homes.
Those eligible are the very poor in the state meeting federal poverty guidelines. The CSFP packages will supplement, not substitute for other programs. The number going specifically to New Haven seniors was not yet available Monday.
Given the high cost of living and senior poverty in cities like New Haven, the officials said they hoped the money is only a beginning. Former city Elderly Services Director Don Dimenstein (at left in photo with perennial senior volunteer Celstino Cordova) echoed that sentiment: “These people can’t wait. Poverty is an everyday issue in their daily lives.”